Techie rape and murder: HC upholds life sentence for three men

Upholding a lower court order, the Madras High Court today confirmed life imprisonment for three accused in the murder of a 24-year-old woman IT employee near her office on the city outskirts more than two years ago.

Around 30 months after three migrant workers had waylaid the TCS employee a few hundred metres away from her office at Siruseri on the outskirt of Chennai, a division bench of the Madras high court on Tuesday confirmed life imprisonment for all the three saying there was no reason to interfere with a trial court order or to reduce the quantum of sentence in the case.

Software engineer B Uma Maheshwari, who was staying in a rented house in Medavakkam and working at TCS in Siruseri, did not return home after her shift ended at 10.30 pm on February 13, 2014.

Following an alert given by her co-employee, Maheshwari’s father rushed from Attur in Salem district to Chennai and lodged a complaint with Kelambakkam Police on February 14. A woman missing case was registered.

After a few days of search, her body was recovered. The murder brought to sharp focus safety issues concerning women IT employees, especially those leaving office in late hours, and prompted software companies to clamp preventive measures, including mandatory use of office vehicle for those working beyond 8 PM.

The three were later arrested when they tried to use her ATM card. They were charged with rape and murder. By an order dated November 28, 2014, the Mahila court found them guilty of murder of Maheshwari and awarded life sentence to each of them. Hence, the appeals from the trio- Ram Mandal, Uttam Mandal and Indrajit Mandal.